[eng] EU-accession to the European Convention on Human Rights entails a crucial choice. It is about whether the EU will commit itself, along with virtually all European States, to the traditional notion of fundamental rights or whether it will go its own way. For what we see today is a clear risk that the two main European systems of fundamental rights protection drift apart and, ultimately, break up. The formal autonomisation of EU fundamental rights currently taking place could well be anticipating their substantial autonomisation, thereby paving the way for an understanding of fundamental rights which is somewhat different from the one lying at the heart of the Convention system. This trend is exemplified by the recent case-law relating to the area of freedom, security and justice, where the European Court of Justice appears to be increasingly torn between respect for fundamental rights and efficiency considerations. It is precisely on this score that EU accession to the Convention could make a difference, as it would help ensure that fundamental rights in the EU remain truly “fundamental”.